Top 5 YouTube Branded Advertising Videos of 2014, Part 1

Top 5 Sponsored YouTube Videos of 2014

With over 1 billion users and hundreds of millions of hours of video being watched daily, YouTube is a marketing powerhouse that with advertisers, agencies, and brands racing to capture audience, engage innovative ways, and collaborate with YouTubers, channels and creators. According to YouTube statistics, more than a million advertisers are using Google ad platforms to reach their audience. However brands that collaborate extensively with influencers, YouTubers and creators to conceive and design branded content and campaigns are the primary players in the industry (see our post on three ways to create branded content). Below are some of the top branded content YouTube videos of 2014.

Devin Supertramp + Speed Stick

Devin Supertramp is known for taking risks and going on adventures with his camera and friends. For this video, Speed Stick GEAR worked with Devin to create a piece of branded content that would get audiences titillated and evoke sentiment about the Speed Stick GEAR. This video received over 6.8 million views (see our spotlight on Devinsupertramp). The channel has over 2.9 million subscribers and a massive social reach.

Dude Perfect + Gatorade

The five guys behind Dude Perfect are notorious for combing wild sport antics with comedy and their branded content video with Gatorade fully encompasses this concept. Integrating Gatorade on the dunk tank highlights: 1) how the Dude Perfect’s extreme nature is related to the Gatorade brand and 2) that Gatorade is associated with the "world's longest dunk tank throw". Dude Perfect has over 4.2 million subscribers and this video received over 3.4 million views.

PewdiePie + As Above, So Below

PewdiePie is a prominent YouTube personality and the most subscribed to channel on YouTube. He's known for working with indie games and charities to raise positive awareness and funding. For this video, he worked with the film As Above, So Below to create branded content to get his audience interested and aware of the movie. PewdiePie has over 34.5 million subscribers and this video received over 5.8 million views.

The Fine Bros + Halt and Catch Fire - AMC

The Fine Bros are the masterminds behind Kids React To… a series where kids react to a different piece of equipment or technology they aren't accustomed to seeing in each episode. To help promote Halt and Catch Fire, The Fine Bros had kids react to a 70's computer. The Fine Bros have over 11.4 million subscribers and this video received over 14.4 million views.

Veritasium + The Hunger Games

Veritasium is the Billy Nye of YouTube. He creates science based videos where viewers can come to learn about science in unique ways. For this sponsored video, The Hunger Games paired with Veritasium and other YouTubers to create various educational videos that would be coming from the districts in The Hunger Games. Veritasium took content he was already creating and gave it a Hunger Games spin. Veritasium has over 2.2 million subscribers and this video received over 400 thousand views.